Comparison

Altimeter & Precision vs Altimeter for Aviators

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Altimeter & Precision

This app provides accurate altitude and GPS coordinates, trusted by thousands for over 7 years. It prioritizes user privacy with no data collection or sharing. Customize your experience with various background colors.

Highlights
  • Accuracy Display
  • No Annoying Ads
  • No data collected or shared
  • 16 Background Colors
  • Altitude Measurement
  • GPS Coordinates
Features
Read full description

Thousands of users have trusted our altimeter for 7 years. This application is made in Montreal. No data collected or shared. For the price of a coffee, support us! Thank you very much!! Key Features: - Accuracy Display - No Annoying Ads - No data collected or shared - 16 Background Colors Please note: Walls, vehicle roofs, tall buildings and other obstructions can block line of sight to GPS satellites. To improve the accuracy, make sure that you maintain a clear view of the horizon in several directions. GPS accuracy varies depending on the number of visible GPS satellites. Locating all visible satellites can take several minutes, with accuracy gradually increasing over time.

About

Altimeter for Aviators

This app functions as a pressure altimeter, similar to those found in aircraft, utilizing your device's barometer. It's designed for pilots and aviation enthusiasts to understand altitude, height above a location, and flight levels. It works as a standalone Apple Watch app or on iPhones/iPads with a barometer.

Highlights
  • Pressure altimeter functionality
  • Standalone Apple Watch app
  • Calculates altitude above sea level
  • Calculates height above a specific location (QFE)
  • Calculates Flight Level (FL) using standard pressure
  • Supports pressure units (inHg, hPa, mb)
Features
Read full description

If you want a 'real' Altimeter, look no further. No GPS used here. Learn how a real pressure Altimeter works such as you would find in an aircraft. Altimeter for Aviators is primarily designed as an Apple Watch application, although it does also work on iPhones or iPads that have a barometer. Provided your watch has a Barometer it will even run stand-alone (no iPhone needed). Student and instructor pilots will find this App to be a valuable training tool, while those knowing how to use an altimeter will enjoy having it on their wrist. To obtain your Altitude (height above sea level): Set the 'pressure setting' to the current air pressure at sea level. Weather forecasts often give this (eg the BBC Weather App includes pressure in mb). You can also obtain the pressure from weather pressure charts or from METAR reports from airports (eg Q1017). In aviation speak, this is known as the QNH. Set the pressure setting by rotating the 'crown' on your watch. You can then 'Lock' this setting so you don't accidentally change it by doing a long-press and choosing 'Lock'. Alternatively, if you know the altitude of the point that you are currently at, you can rotate the watch crown until the Altimeter reads the correct altitude. To obtain your height above a certain location: Set the 'station' pressure for that location (the actual air pressure at that very point). Aviation language calls this pressure setting QFE. If you are at that location, you can just rotate the crown of the watch until the Altimeter reads zero. As a short-cut you can alternatively long-press and then pick "Zero (QFE)". To obtain your Flight Level (FL): Another setting that pilots use is the standard setting of 1013.25mb. This is used above 3000ft roughly and instead of giving you an accurate 'Altitude' gives you what is known as a 'Flight level'. Long-press and select the "STP (FL)" option as a short cut (FL stands for Flight Level. STP stands for 'Standard Temperature and Pressure'). If you are more familiar with inches of mercury (inHg) rather than hectapascals (hPa) or millibars (mb) then toggle this with the 'Units' menu item. Note that mb and hPa are the same unit. ACCURACY WARNING: Your watch (or iPhone) pressure sensing device has not been calibrated in the same way that the expensive altimeters found in aircraft have been. Your electronic device also has more points of failure and error being miniature and electrically based so this App in no way replaces or can be used for actual flying. If you run this App side by side on two different iOS devices, the chances are they'll give you slightly different altitudes. Further, if you're a pilot the pressure in your cockpit is unlikely to be as accurate as the location of the static pitot tube and will be susceptible to changes due to air vents being opened, doors with gaps, any climate control, your speed and any vibration. WEATHER WARNING: Air pressure changes throughout the day can cause readings to drift by up to 1 foot per minute, so keep the pressure-setting up-to-date by updating it whenever you can; as you get to any locations of known altitude or hourly if receiving pressure settings in some other way. Colours: Altimeter for Aviators shows how recent the altitude was calculated (it's not constant) White = updated in the last 10 seconds Yellow = updated between 10 and 60 seconds ago. Pink = updated between 1 and 10 minutes ago. Dark Red = updated more than 10 minutes ago. Altitude units: The long hand shows 100s of feet. The short hand 1000s of feet. The inward pointing edge arrow shows 10000s of feet. The barber pole (stripe at the bottom) is visible below 10000 feet, so if it disappears you are at risk of Hypoxia.

Screenshots

Altimeter & Precision4 screens
Altimeter for Aviators4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Altimeter for Aviators at Free against Altimeter & Precision's $0.99. Altimeter for Aviators also leads on device support (4 vs 2). Altimeter & Precision's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and review sentiment (92% vs 76%). On rating, ratings volume, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Altimeter for Aviators is free to download; Altimeter & Precision costs $0.99 up front. Altimeter for Aviators sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Altimeter & Precision asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Altimeter & Precision against 4.7 for Altimeter for Aviators. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.4K and 583 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 92% of Altimeter & Precision's written reviews are positive against 76% of Altimeter for Aviators's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Altimeter & Precision ships an update monthly, Altimeter for Aviators every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Altimeter & Precision versus Altimeter for Aviators: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAltimeter & PrecisionAltimeter for Aviators
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (1.4K ratings) — better4.7 (583 ratings)
Positive reviews92.3% of reviews — better75.6% of reviews
Number of ratings1.4K — better583
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS12.012.0
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStudio Nano Ship, Inc.STEARsoft

Customer experience

Altimeter & Precision

All ratings1,406 ratings
Positive97.4%
Neutral1.8%
Negative0.9%
Written reviews91 reviews
Positive92.3%
Neutral3.3%
Negative4.4%

Altimeter for Aviators

All ratings583 ratings
Positive92.1%
Neutral4.1%
Negative3.8%
Written reviews45 reviews
Positive75.6%
Neutral6.7%
Negative17.8%

User reviews

Altimeter & Precision

From 1.4K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🔍 Accurate altitude readings
  • 🗺️ Useful map integration
  • 🔋 Reliable performance
  • 💻 Works well on multiple devices

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inconsistent altitude readings
  • 🔒 Lack of customization options
  • 🤖 Issues with GPS/location tracking
  • 💰 Paid features not worth the cost

Altimeter for Aviators

From 583 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple and intuitive user interface
  • ✈️ Accurate altimeter representation for pilots
  • ⌚ Works well on Apple Watch
  • 🎯 Easy pressure setting adjustment like real cockpit
  • 📱 No GPS required for operation

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes or stops working after iOS updates
  • 📵 Inconsistent performance across Watch models
  • 🔴 Watch display shows red/no reading on some devices
  • 📧 Poor developer communication and contact options
  • 💰 Upsell prompts not clearly disclosed

Bugs and requests

Altimeter & Precision

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • App crashes when switching to map view
  • Altitude readings not updating correctly

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add iPad support
  • Provide more detailed location information
  • Include weather data integration
  • Improve map functionality

Altimeter for Aviators

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • App hangs on 'reading pressure' with Apple Watch 8
  • Watch complication shows dashed line instead of altitude
  • Incompatibility with iOS 17.4
  • Watch app graphics fuzzy/wrong resolution
  • Crown and long press unresponsive on Watch 8
Show 4 more
  • Pressure setting increments in millibar even when units changed
  • Watch only displays millibars, can't change to inHg
  • Inaccurate altitude readings on some Watch models (off by 200 feet)
  • Developer contact form returns error messages

Requested features

11 requests
  • CarPlay integration and widget support
  • Night mode with dark theme
  • Keep screen on while flying option
  • Drum pointer altimeter display option
  • Digital altitude readout option
Show 6 more
  • Faster refresh rate for VSI
  • Automatic local pressure lookup via GPS
  • Additional instruments (airspeed, G-meter)
  • Toggle to disable pressure swipe adjustment
  • Complication display improvements
  • Better altitude flag deadband transition

In-app purchases

None

Altimeter & Precision

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Altimeter for Aviators

One-time2
  • VSI$1.99
  • Altitude Units$1.99

Questions

Is Altimeter & Precision free?
Altimeter & Precision costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Altimeter for Aviators free?
Altimeter for Aviators is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Altimeter & Precision or Altimeter for Aviators?
Altimeter & Precision is rated higher. Altimeter & Precision averages 4.8 out of 5 from 1.4K ratings, while Altimeter for Aviators averages 4.7 from 583 ratings.
Do Altimeter & Precision or Altimeter for Aviators have ads?
Neither Altimeter & Precision nor Altimeter for Aviators shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Altimeter & Precision or Altimeter for Aviators?
Altimeter & Precision ships an update monthly, and Altimeter for Aviators every 5 weeks. Most recently, Altimeter & Precision was updated on November 1, 2026 and Altimeter for Aviators on October 29, 2026.

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